The RealReal posts double-digit growth as resale demand accelerates

The RealReal just put hard numbers behind resale’s maturation. In the quarter ended May 7, 2026, gross merchandise value rose 24% year over year to $606 million, total revenue climbed 19% to $190 million, and the company’s trailing-12-month active buyer count reached 1,083,000, up 10%.

That mix matters because it suggests more than a short-term rebound in luxury consignment. Average order value increased 15% to $646, a sign that shoppers are not only returning, but trading up inside a second-hand system that depends on trust, authentication and tight pricing discipline. Consignment revenue rose 18% and Direct Revenue jumped 26%, giving The RealReal a broader sales engine than the one-category resale story that once defined the market.

Chief executive Rati Levesque framed the quarter as the result of “disciplined execution” across three pillars: unlocking supply through the company’s growth playbook, obsessing over service, and operational excellence. She also said buyer growth led by Gen Z and Millennials reinforces the idea that resale is becoming a core component of luxury’s future, while the company is increasingly positioning itself as “the operating system for luxury ownership.”

The financial quality of the quarter strengthened that argument. Adjusted EBITDA improved by $9 million from the same period last year to $13.1 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by more than 400 basis points. The RealReal said the period marked its fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit top-line growth and its third straight quarter of growth above 20%, a pattern that reads less like a seasonal pop than a business getting more efficient at moving authenticated product through its own channels.

The company’s prior year-end results add context. In its February 26, 2026 full-year 2025 update, The RealReal said it had surpassed $2 billion in annual GMV and accelerated active buyer growth, so the first-quarter numbers did not arrive in isolation. They extend a run that now includes both scale and improved economics, a combination the resale sector has spent years trying to prove.

Management also raised its outlook. For the second quarter of 2026, The RealReal guided to GMV of $590 million to $600 million, revenue of $186 million to $189 million and adjusted EBITDA of $11 million to $12 million. For full-year 2026, it lifted guidance to GMV of $2.42 billion to $2.47 billion, revenue of $770 million to $784 million and adjusted EBITDA of $59 million to $67 million. The market is still deciding whether resale’s next chapter belongs to the category or to The RealReal itself, but these results make one thing clear: authenticated second-hand luxury is no longer an experiment in sentiment. It is becoming an operating system.